The Weather Channel reports:
Hurricane Florence is spreading heavy rain and strong winds into the Carolinas, with landfall possible either overnight tonight or on Friday, kicking off an agonizing crawl through the Southeast into early next week, producing catastrophic inland rainfall flooding, life-threatening storm surge and destructive winds.
As of late Thursday afternoon, Florence’s eye was located about 100 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, crawling west-northwestward at just 5 mph. Outer rainbands are pushing ashore in eastern North Carolina, only the beginning of what could be a record-wet siege from a tropical cyclone in parts of the Tar Heel State.
A destructive storm surge will accompany the eye coming ashore sometime from tonight into Friday, and coastal flooding may persist through multiple high-tide cycles into this weekend east of the center of Florence. Significant beach erosion is also likely on the southeastern U.S. coast.
Storm surge will be a huge factor for Hurricane #Florence Check out what it might look like with @TWCErikaNavarro: pic.twitter.com/TPqTZTmiAM
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) September 13, 2018
Unfortunately, hurricane hunters currently investigating #Florence have found no significant weakening and the forward speed of the storm has *slowed* to just 5 miles per hour. Storm surge and flash flooding will still be huge threats. pic.twitter.com/rhNkJa0ZxV
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) September 13, 2018
Storm surge has already begun to inundate the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Coastal flooding may persist through the end of this weekend as #Florence stalls at landfall tonight.
?️: @StormVisuals pic.twitter.com/9sVkuaFfJ3
— Hurricane Tracker App (@hurrtrackerapp) September 13, 2018
Storm surge is the deadliest consequence of hurricanes and we’re already seeing some effects from Florence. Watch as an interior wall is ripped off a frame from a beach house near the coastline as captured by our field correspondents. pic.twitter.com/nc5MyC9ckN
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) September 13, 2018
Video: Watch as a photographer gets knocked over by storm surge in North Carolina. #HurricaneFlorence https://t.co/n5N4Ow9lMX pic.twitter.com/luPPlYSGAE
— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) September 13, 2018
National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham: "90% of the fatalities in tropical systems, it comes from the water. Half of those is storm surge, another 25% is actually the inland rain. So the message is not only for the coast but for everybody inland, just be in a safe place." pic.twitter.com/UEy0Lil7I3
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) September 13, 2018